


Heart's Blood

by TwilightKnight17



Series: Shuake Confidant Week 2018 [1]
Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, M/M, background Ann/Shiho - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-29
Updated: 2018-10-29
Packaged: 2019-08-09 07:25:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16445411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwilightKnight17/pseuds/TwilightKnight17
Summary: A pureblood vampire finds a very stubborn newborn. A vampire hunter is the last person that should ever be turned, but, well...[Vampire AU]





	Heart's Blood

**Author's Note:**

> The confidant week tumblr is a few hours ahead of me, so I'm starting a few hours before 10/29, technically. Anyway...
> 
> October 29th, Day One: **Food** /Foil/Antithesis

Life was bitter, unfair, and always more in favor of some than others. Goro Akechi knew that very, very well. He’d clawed and scraped and fought to get to where he was in life, all by himself. The position of vampire hunter was respected, important. Hunters kept back the threat that vampires posed to humanity, and Goro had been proud to take the mantle for his own.

He should have known it wouldn’t last.

_“You have to go, you have to go now, they’re going to--”_

_“Not like this. If it happens, it’s gonna be on my terms. Thank you, Goro.”_

He never should have gotten involved with Ann Takamaki. She was bright, bubbly, everything he shouldn’t have wanted to be friends with. But she was also kind, and loyal, and willing to put up with all of his faux-extrovert tendencies. He’d come to truly treasure her company over the past year or so. And he couldn’t regret helping her, even if it had made him like...this.

He already felt himself growing weak with hunger, though he had no intentions of doing anything about that, so he huddled in the shelter of a large tree, thoughts spiraling helplessly until his newly-enhanced hearing picked up the faint step of someone coming up behind him. He whipped around, eyes wide, and found a young man that appeared to be roughly his age, with a mop of black hair. The stranger looked surprised for a moment, then grinned deviously.

“Oh~”

Goro stared. He had fangs. One of the variations from the standard: sharp canines, but also pointed teeth on either side of them, giving him a permanently fanged smile. Definitely a vampire, and he prowled closer, leaning into Goro’s personal space with a lazy smile. “I see... You poor thing. I followed the scent of a hunter and here I find you. You just got turned, didn’t you? What did you do to piss the hunters off?”

Goro hissed. Great, exactly what he needed. A poking, prodding reminder that now he was a bloodsucker, like this annoyance. He took a swing at him, but the other vampire didn’t even flinch from the weak hit. Being a newborn vampire was the equivalent of being a newborn in general, apparently. There was no force behind his fists, and he couldn’t muster any up.

“You’re probably starving, aren’t you? Most people need to feed shortly after they’re turned.”

“I’m fine,” Goro said sharply. Hungry as he was, he didn’t want help from some random vampire, whether he was one now too or not.

The vampire chuckled. “Oh, you’re a bad liar. You know how weak you are right now, and I can see it. The hunger in those pretty eyes of yours.”

“Shut up, you don’t know anything.” His hands were trembling, and Goro tried to still them with clenched fists and willpower alone.

“I know you’re a newborn vampire, probably with no idea how his fangs work, who hasn’t had a drop of blood since turning.” The vampire leaned in close enough that his breath puffed gently over Goro’s neck. “Am I right?”

Goro leaned away. “Of course I know how my...fangs...work…”

“Do you now?”

“Yes! They’re just...there.” Goro tried to bare his fangs, but immediately realized they weren’t extending like he knew they were supposed to. He was just making some sort of face, which was definitely not what he was going for.

The vampire was laughing at whatever expression he was making, saying between giggles, “That’s adorable. No, really, that’s the cutest thing I’ve seen all week. Oh wow.”

This was infuriating. If he didn’t know he was (mostly) still alive, he’d be convinced that this was some kind of punishment for something he’d done in life, being tormented by this obnoxious vampire. “God, just shut up and leave me alone. I’m fine.”

The mirth faded from the other’s face, and he got to his feet, looking down at Goro with actual concern. “Are you sure? It’ll be dawn soon. You know what the sun does.”

“Burns vampires, of course,” Goro huffed. “I’m well aware.”

“Right. So, do you have somewhere to go?” When Goro was silent, the vampire folded his arms and cocked his head curiously. “Burning hurts, you know. You’ll die in just a few minutes and it’ll be agony the entire time.”

“Fine. Fine!” Goro cried, completely frustrated. “No, I don’t have anywhere to go, yes, I’m hungry, is that what you wanted?” He stared up at the other vampire, and was surprised to see his expression soften.

“I have a place,” he said, quieter now, “and a human friend who would probably be willing to lend a hand. C’mon. I’m not going to just leave you out here.”

Goro got to his feet. A vampire willing to offer help to another that it hadn’t sired? That seemed strange. But he wasn’t going to complain about a place to hide away from the sun. The other offer, though… “I’m not going to eat your human ‘friend’, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

The vampire raised an eyebrow. “...you do know that we don’t have to eat people, right? We can survive on blood.”

“Yes, and blood...generally comes from people, as far as I’m aware,” Goro replied, staring right back.

“Oh. Yeah, that...might end up being a problem.” He waved Goro to follow him. “I’m Akira, by the way. Akira Kurusu. I’m a pureblood, in case you were wondering. And I wouldn’t phrase it as ‘eating’ them when you talk about feeding. It makes you sound like you’re gonna rip their arm off and eat it. Which some people do, but that’s different from drinking someone’s blood.”

“I’m...Goro Akechi.” He followed behind Akira, deeper into the woods, wondering if they were going to end up at some cliched, half-abandoned gothic mansion. “And I don’t really know all the proper...terms, I suppose. How am I meant to say it?”

Akira glanced over his shoulder. “Eating someone implies like...literally. Feeding is drinking blood. It’s not too hard; you should pick it up quickly.”

Getting used to being able to see in the dark was a bit unnerving, and Goro dodged around a few rough patches of undergrowth, trying to follow Akira’s graceful footsteps. “It’s still hurting people. Forgive me if I don’t particularly want to pick it up ‘quickly’.”

Akira sighed audibly. “You’re not hurting them. You only need but so much blood, and it’s less than a human would have to lose to die. And only every couple of weeks. Even if you fed on just one human repeatedly, they would recover in that time.”

Goro didn’t reply to that, just followed along in silence, mulling over what he’d been told. Of course a vampire would be trying to defend his diet. But purebloods were known in many cases for being relatively reasonable compared to their turned counterparts, and most certainly were better than nosferatu. Vampires that killed turned feral and mindless, and were the primary targets of the hunter association. They went after any vampire that was considered a threat, however...and also ones that were guilty of more specific crimes.

_Like treason._

Akira’s ‘place’ turned out to be a decently-sized house in the forest, slightly run-down on the outside but well-kept inside. Goro lingered in the foyer, toeing off his muddy shoes as he looked around. There was a light on in the living room, and Akira headed towards it, calling, “Hey, I’m back!”

“Took you long enough!” a familiar voice responded, and Goro went stock-still as Ann walked into view from around the corner. “Did you find what smelled like hunter?” But then she stopped too, and cried, “Goro?!”

He didn’t say anything, too surprised by her sudden appearance, and she looked him over quickly before saying in horrified realization, “Oh no… No, Goro, oh god…”

“Ann?” A dark-haired girl walked out behind Ann, looking concerned, only to gasp, “Goro, what did they do to you?”

He smiled thinly. “I think it should be rather obvious, Shiho.”

Shiho Suzui, Ann’s girlfriend. Also a vampire. When the hunters found out about the relationship, they’d condemned Ann to being turned. Those that consorted with vampires could suffer living as one, was apparently the logic. But once he’d helped Ann escape, out of the belief that no one deserved a fate like being forcibly turned just for being in love, they’d punished Goro in her place.

He could still almost taste the vampire blood they’d forced down his throat to turn him.

And then he’d been left out in the woods, abandoned without much time before dawn. They’d intended him to burn; there was no question.

“I’m so sorry,” Ann babbled. “I never meant for you to take my punishment; this is all my fault!”

“It isn’t,” Goro said quietly. “I knew there was a risk. I didn’t really believe they would go so far, though.” He wrapped his arms around himself, trying to hide how much he was starting to shiver. He hadn’t believed the hunger would be this bad either. Everything was finally starting to sink in and become real.

“At least come sit down,” she insisted, venturing further into the foyer to grab his hand. “We’ll get this figured out. It’ll be okay.”

Akira followed, looking a bit confused. “I’m...glad you two know each other, at least. Goro, this is the human friend I was telling you about.”

Goro sat, hungry and frustrated all over again. “Of course she is. Why wouldn’t she be? It’s not like everything wasn’t enough of a joke to start with.”

“Goro, calm down,” Ann said, then glanced at Akira. “Should I cut my palm or something? He’s starving.”

“I am calm. Why would I not be, when I’ve been turned into a vampire and tossed out to die?”

“Okay that was a stupid thing to say but _please chill._ ” Ann fumbled in her pocket.

Goro watched her search for whatever she was looking for, but wasn’t distracted enough to avoid blurting loudly, “No, I’m not going to _chill!_ ”

“I’m sorry, Akira, he’s not usually like this around me. He’s being a brat.”

“I am _not._ ”

“You are. Seriously, I can just cut my palm. We both know how you are when you don’t eat, and you’re being really grumpy right now.” Ann leaned a hand on her hip, exchanging an exasperated glance with Shiho, and when he started to protest, she said firmly, “Where else are you going to get a meal, idiot?”

Too shaky to say no, Goro just nodded reluctantly. He was terrified of hurting Ann, either through inexperience or some side-effect of being a vampire. That’s what they did: hurt people. And no amount of assurances that she’d done this for Shiho multiple times made him feel better. But he couldn’t help but track the well of crimson liquid as she drew a pocketknife across her hand.

Akira watched him hesitate, then finally grabbed Ann’s hand and shoved it against his mouth. Goro wanted to push it away, but the blood smeared over his lips was impossible to resist, and he pressed closer, lapping eagerly at the cut. His mind screamed at him to stop; he was drinking blood and it shouldn’t taste good, it should be awful. But he kept going, mouthful after mouthful until he was sated, and then he promptly panicked.

“Shit, shit, shit, Ann, are you okay, oh god what did I do?”

“Wow,” Akira commented. “You really went to town.”

“Akira, shut up.” Ann kneeled down to look at his face. It and his hands were covered in blood, and she tucked some of his hair back behind his ears. “I’m fine, Goro, really. Oh jeeze, how did you get it in your hair?”

He just stared at her, lip trembling, trying desperately not to break down. He was freaked out and overwhelmed and covered in blood, and just wanted everything to stop for a few minutes. Shiho walked over, shooing Ann and Akira back and taking one of Goro’s bloodstained hands in hers. “Come on, Goro. We’ll get you a bath and let you sleep some while Akira fixes up Ann’s hand. The sun’s going to come up soon. Once you’ve had a nap, we can answer any questions you’ve got.”

He let her lead him upstairs, and sank gratefully into the bath she ran for him. He was reaching the point where everything felt like a bizarre lucid dream, but the hot water was grounding. He didn’t know how long he’d been in there before there was a tap at the door, and Akira opened it just a crack with his eyes closed.

“I brought you some extra clothes,” he said, stepping just barely into the room when Goro didn’t object and setting the stack on the floor. “And I’m sorry for messing with you earlier. I know this has to be hard for you.”

“...it’s okay,” Goro muttered, pulling his knees to his chest in Akira’s oversized tub. “Thank you for the clothes.”

Akira smiled and reached back to find the doorframe, eyes still shut. “If you need anything else, yell, okay? We want to help you with this. You’re going to be all right.” And then he was gone, closing the door behind him, and Goro sank down until he was submerged entirely except for his nose and eyes.

Maybe… _Maybe_ this wouldn’t be so bad. He still didn’t want to have to hurt people, but he didn’t want to be dead, either. And if Akira, Ann, and Shiho were willing to help him…

Maybe he could survive as a vampire. Somehow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout to the discord crew for this one. ;)
> 
> Will I add more to this? Probably. I’ve got a document full of stuff but it’s full of holes, so if I did it might end up being more like a set of connected oneshots than an actual fic. But what kind of person am I if I don’t write at least one vampire fic???


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